


the anthem to my suffering

by azhawritesreylo



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Drama & Romance, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force Ghost Luke Skywalker, Heartbreak, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Prompt Fic, Rey Needs A Hug, Temporary Character Death, The Dark Side of the Force, The Force Ships It, we're bringing ben solo back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24350287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azhawritesreylo/pseuds/azhawritesreylo
Summary: Look at them, she thought. Look at them rejoicing amidst a thousand deaths, including my own.*-*-*Prompt Fic:Ben returns to life, but is met not with the other half of his dyad, but her friends who sought him out as a last resort. A heartbroken Rey has become the new menace of the galaxy, usurping the role of Supreme Leader and avowed to avenge the loss of her other half.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 17
Kudos: 36
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	1. The Tune

_ Look at them, _ she thought.  _ Look at them rejoicing amidst a thousand deaths, including my own.  _

The voice was small, but it lingered. Rey pushed it down repeatedly, trying hard to join in the victory of the Resistance. Her friends were all she had now. She can’t hold it against them to not know any better. No one knows what really happened; who saved them over and over again, whose conflict it was that shifted the tide till the end. Till his end.

“Rey!” Finn yells from the bonfire, the people gathered around it smiling and laughing.

They were happy. They were alive.

She was neither of those things. A part of her had died that day. A part of her will always be missing now. And still, she came towards them with a bright grin and sad eyes no one else can read. No one but Ben Solo. 

_ No one’s ever really gone _ . A voice, Luke’s, echoes in the distance. 

Rey turns but even a wisp of his ghost can’t be seen. She felt herself slipping away, further and further, until there was nothing but the darkness surrounding them. 

“No,” she whispers. “No one ever is.”


	2. The Hymns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> # “I defeated the Sith. I extinguished their fleet. The Empire is gone because of me. And what do I get? Ben Solo, dead.”

It started after her return from Tatooine.

Their victory fueled her for a time and she put mourning behind her. But soon, that wasn’t enough. She had to bury something, something more than a pair of lightsabers they only held for the better part of an hour. 

It was a feeling that overwhelmed her and many things had taken over being in the last couple of days. This  _ loss _ , she thought, can be felt across the galaxy and yet it wasn’t something her friends can ever understand. They were safe from the menace that once ruled the universe. They lost entire families, friends they’ve fought alongside with, yes. All of them lost something. But Rey had always been alone. She’d always  _ felt _ alone. Despite Finn, despite the Resistance...there were journeys only she took on. And then he found her. 

They only just found each other. This alone sparked a rage inside her. 

First, her parents had to leave her behind to protect her. And now, this. After finding out she’s part of a cosmic pair that had been unseen for generations, the other half of her soul gets snatched away. 

Maz Kanata accompanied her on many of her trips, going from planet to planet to ensure peace. On more than a few occasions, Maz reassured her that the Force will always be with her loved ones as she is and through that, a connection that defies life and death. But Rey was still unsettled. Something else must be done. 

“There had been rumors,” Maz tells her one night as they settle on Corellia, Han’s home planet. “But this was a long time ago. No one has ever proven its existence.”

“What is it, Maz? Tell me.”

She sighs heavily and stares deep into her eyes. “There is a place, a mystical plane in the Force, where doors and pathways through different times and space existed.”

Rey was familiar with that. She’d read it in the Jedi sacred texts. “The Vergence Scatter,” she says and Maz Kanata nods.

“The World Between Worlds is believed to hold infinite possibilities.”

“And power,” Rey added quietly. “A power strong enough to…”

Maz shakes her head. “It may be true but—”

“If there was even the slightest chance I can get him back, I have to try,” she interjects, full of desperation and hope. 

It was a dangerous combination, Maz can see it. But even Maz Kanata knew she cannot sway the young Jedi from a path she had already set upon. 

Rey was determined. She will find the World Between Worlds. She will bring Ben Solo back, even if she had to die trying. But first, she needed to make sure that no one would take him away again. 

So when the Resistance reformed and birthed a New Republic, their first order was to sweep the galaxy. Criminals, followers left behind from the Empire’s downfall, were brought to questioning. Rey saw the opportunity to make secure their future.

Over the weeks that followed, she went on a spree of bringing sympathizers and allies to their authority; to trample on their chances of ever regrouping. It didn’t matter how she did it. What matters is that she’s doing everything to keep the galaxy safe—to make his death, however temporary, worth it. But soon, her friends began to question her crusade.

Poe was the first to speak up against her. They got into a heated argument over a prisoner who tried to escape. She only prevented that from happening, but apparently, it didn’t sit well with the former pilot. 

“This is the way to get things done,” she insisted.

“No, Rey,” Poe said. “It isn’t.”

It enraged her, being controlled like this. They didn’t know. Not one of them does. So she felt the need to remind them. 

“I defeated the Sith. I extinguished their fleet. The Empire is gone because of me. And what do I get? Ben Solo, dead.”

“This isn’t about Ben Solo,” Poe replied.

“Yes, it is.” And she held her ground against him, willing him to see. “Everything I do is for a future I could’ve had with him. It’s for a cause I believe in, Poe. And that cause is not lost yet.”

“What are you talking about?”

Rey let down her walls, hoping her friends would understand if she explained. “If I bring him back—” but that alone made Poe shake his head. 

Finn suddenly appeared, listening this entire time. The look of concern on his face made her want to scream. 

“It’s over, Rey,” he tells her, the way one would with a deranged animal. “Let him go.”

“It’s not over,” she says. “Not until I say it is.”

“That is dangerous ground, Rey,” Poe mutters, looking at her with furrowed brows. “You don’t know what could happen—”

“And you do?” She scoffs. 

“I’m fully aware you’re the only Jedi in this room,” he says, nearly patronizing. “But dead is dead. You have to accept that.”

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes,” she mutters. 

They only stared at her, studying her.

Rey shook her head at them, infuriated. “I  _ died _ . On Exegol, I died! But he brought me back. That’s why he’s gone and I’m not!”

She fell on the floor, crying, and wracked with the guilt she’d been carrying for the longest time. Ben Solo was dead because of her. Ben was gone because he loved her. She was alone and he was gone and nothing was right. 

“This has to stop, Rey,” Poe whispers, crouching in front of her. 

“They’re still out there,” she tells him. “What if they have more clones? What if they had another fleet hidden? We can’t take that chance. Not again.” Then she looked at him dead in the eyes, the fire in her burning brighter. “No more.”

“Rey—” Finn begins but she was already on her feet, walking away.

She didn’t stop. Not when they asked her to. Not when they no longer accepted the prisoners she had so eagerly gathered. Not when they tried to restrain her. Not when they told her that she’s mad with grief. 

Rey didn’t stop. 


	3. The March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Behold, the new Supreme Leader.

“I’m ready to rattle the universe and break it to splinters.”

The Empress donned her black robes and looked over the strait. How long had she waited for this moment? She couldn’t tell. She had strayed far from her path, but that no longer held any weight as it did before. This was a choice she had to make. Her destiny had always been unprecedented. She was born to be a Sith and yet chose to be a Jedi. She was born to a name she never claimed but grew up to be no one. 

There was nobody that could determine her fate for her, only what she chooses to do and to become shall be. This was her life. 

Her friends have all but turned against her. She had to put light years between them, after what happened. They wouldn’t accept her for what she is. How could they? 

They feared her power as they should. Though the thought hurt, believing she was ever going to use it against them. They couldn’t understand the pain she was going through or what she had been trying to do. She was only after one thing: accountability. She needed those who had supported the Empire, who had fueled its ascent, to answer for their crimes. She needed justice for all those who were lost—for Ben. 

Fortunately, she wasn’t alone. 

There were others who felt as strongly as she did—like this was an unfinished business that needed mending. Naturally, they joined her; her sisters, a new family. They’ve begun calling themselves the Knights of Rey, reclaiming what used to be a group that spread terror and destruction across the galaxy into something that reforms it. 

“As are we,” Tyria, her right hand, tells her eagerly. 

Rey smiles. “Let the cleansing begin.”

Their prisoners in intertwined chains were pushed over the cliff they were standing on, and one by one they dropped, the chains dragging them altogether towards their watery deaths.

“More!” She roars, and her followers heeded her command. 

When news of her arrival reached their quarters, it was too late.

The new Supreme Leader had taken over the city. Their sentinels were easily overpowered by ferocious women well-trained in the ways of the Force, and it was no mistake how well-versed they were in the art of death. 

It had been some time since they all last saw each other. A few years or so had passed but one thing was for sure: the girl had not found what she was looking for. She was still hungry and she couldn’t be satiated. But now that she had returned, they all knew what she would be after.

Maz Kanata had been tucked away on a planet far from the reformed republic. Only she holds the key information the Dark Empress is after, or so they had hoped. 

“What do you mean it’s on BB-8?” Poe hissed against his comms. 

Maz replies from the other side, all static and incoherent.

“Maz!”

“It’s in his memory drive. He was with me when I found it!”

Poe turns to Rose quickly and nods at the droid. “Wipe him clean.”

“What?” Rose’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

The General turned Senator sighs heavily. “We can’t let her have it, Rose.” Then he looks at the droid, torn and apologetic. “I’m sorry, buddy.”

It beeps and boops in reply and rolls towards Rose. 

“Do it, Rose. Do it now!” Poe commands.

But just then, the doors to their quarters were pried open. A figure in all black, her magnificent robes flowing around her, steps in. She pulls off her hood and the smirk on her face is so unfamiliar it unsettles them. 

“Sorry to barge in uninvited,” she says, not sounding sorry at all. “I’m just here to pick up an old friend.”

BB-8 beeps loudly and hides behind Rose. 

“Oh don’t be like that.” The woman pouts. “I would never hurt my friends. Would I?” She turns to Poe, a brow raised challengingly. 

“This is not the way, Rey.”

Her lips turned up at the corners but instead of a smirk, it looked like a sneer. It was a frightful sight to behold, such light gone from her eyes. “Then what is, Senator Dameron?”

Rose was the one to speak up against her this time. “You can’t do this, Rey. We won’t let you.”

There was suddenly a glint in her eyes, like a spark of mischief that burned in what used to be such a warm hazel gaze. “We’ll see,” she says with a confident smile before reaching out for the droid. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a while but after seeing that there’s still someone reading this (and a really badass villain playlist I stumbled upon), I finally wrote in the third chapter! It’s a quick read but I’m ready to finish this. Are you?


	4. The Anthem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was the closest she’s ever been to finding him and she wasn’t about to stop now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She got blood cold as ice  
> And a heart made of stone  
> But she keeps me alive  
> She's the beast in my bones  
> She gets everything she wants  
> When she gets me alone  
> Like it's nothing  
> She got two little horns  
> And they're getting me a little bit
> 
> \- Horns, Bryce Fox, Arc North

“There’s nothing here.”

“Come again?” Tyria asks, looking over her shoulder. 

Even Lyx was puzzled at the find and was hesitant to deliver the news to the Empress. She turns to Tyria and in a swift move, the second-in-command looks through the droid herself. Unsettled, having come to the same conclusion, Tyria finally reports to Rey that the droid was indeed clean. To which she simply replies; 

“Of course it is,” and smiles with a cold gaze. 

They have intercepted their comms before they got here. It was possible this was a trap. There may not be hidden information in the droid at all. Poe wouldn’t be so stupid a second time, not when she was the one after it. Still, there was something amiss. And she thinks she knows what it is.

Rey marches down to the repurposed interrogation room and crouches in front of Poe. His hands were tied behind his back, his forehead thick with sweat. But his eyes still gleamed with the same fire. He will not be broken.

_ Good _ , she thought. Rey would hate to think that she had put him through something he couldn’t handle. And she promised she would never hurt her friends, not so easily anyway. 

“Should I be impressed?” She chuckles. “I believe I should be.”

“It is an impressive feat,” Poe agrees. “Going through this twice.”

“I like to think I’ve been gentler with you than Ben was,” Rey says quietly. The mere mention of his name was setting her on edge. She didn’t have time to waste. She’d waited far too long for this. “The droid’s a distraction, isn’t it?”

But Poe wasn’t having it. He shook his head with a smug smile, the look of disappointment in his eyes inevitable. There was a moment that passed between them, quiet but heavy. How long has it been since they’ve talked that either of them was willing to listen? Too long, she knew.

“You know, BB-8 used to be your friend.”

Rey pursed her lips. “So were you.” 

Poe sighs in resignation and drops his head.

“I know you have a lot of responsibilities to get to, Senator,” she starts up again, a little less patient. “And I wouldn’t dare keep you from them, but unless you wish to have this city burned to the ground, I suggest you start telling me what I want to know.”

“After all this time, Rey, you still haven’t given up?” He asks, exasperated.

She shrugs nonchalantly and smiles. “Isn’t that what everyone’s after? For me to give up…?”

“For you to  _ move on _ ,” Poe interjects, looking back at her with desperation. 

“That’s part of the reason I don’t want to,” she replies in earnest. “I’m done giving people what they want.”

Too much had been taken from her. Not only was her other half snatched away, he was forgotten. His death meant something to her, but it wasn’t honored by everyone else like it should’ve been. The life she could’ve lived remains to be unseen. The future she thought she would have, standing by his side, was gone. The past she thought she knew was rewritten. Even her name was taken away from her. She was no longer Rey. She was a Palpatine. 

And how she despised it. Even taking Luke and Leia’s names felt out of place. She was lost. This was a world that she didn’t know how to navigate. She began to question herself if she was only living to other people’s whims because the things that her heart desired were kept away from her reach. Stolen. Deprived. 

“Where is it, Poe?” She demanded now, her impatience boiling underneath the surface. “It’s no use, you know that. I will get it out of you. Please don’t make me.”

“I’m not making you do anything.”

“But I will,” she promised. “Tell me the truth and I  _ will _ set you free. I’ll leave this planet in peace, you have my word.”

The Senator scoffs at this, disbelieving. That stung her a bit.

“I haven’t given you any reason to not trust me,” she reminds him. “Not yet anyway.”

“It’s not here,” he relents. “And I don’t know where it is.”

That seemed true. 

But Rey wasn’t finished with him. “Ah,” she says, eyeing the beacon strapped to his wrist. “But you do know where Finn is, don’t you?”

Finally, Poe breaks. His eyes snap to hers with a fury.

“Where is he, Poe?” She asks sweetly, taunting. “He’s there, isn’t he? You’ve already found the gate, and you’re guarding it.” She really didn’t need to ask anymore. “There’s no one you would trust more than your precious Finn.”

Poe’s eyes betrayed him.

The grin that spread across her lips was that of a champion. She patted his shoulder, genuinely grateful, and in one graceful swoop she snatches the tracking beacon from him. He struggled against his chains but it was no use. She got what she came here for. 

“Good work, Senator,” she commends, turning away and stalking towards the halls. “I’ll make sure your city gets  _ exactly _ what it deserves when I return.”

This was the closest she’s ever been to finding him and she wasn’t about to stop now. 

Knowing she’s the fastest pilot amongst them, Rey decided to leave her troops behind, promising a victorious homecoming. 

“Stay within the city but be discreet,” she tells Tyria. “We still have unfinished business here that I’ll have to tend to when I come back.”

Tyria nods once and when Rey puts a hand on her shoulder, she eases into a small smile. “Are you certain you don’t want us to escort you? If there are guards there—” 

“I’ll be fine,” Rey promises. “I’ve handled elite guards before, and I’m sure they won’t be vicious as the ones I’ve faced. Besides,” and this time, it was her smiling at the thought. “I like to think I won’t be fighting them alone for long.”

That hope inside her sprung anew and when she jumped inside the cockpit of her Silencer, it spread to her chest like a warm feeling, pulsating with anticipation. It was dreadful to feel this way, knowing that it could go sideways for the hundredth time. But she also knows that she would rather die being this close to him than spend another cycle around the universe without him. 

There was no way to measure the length of her journey. She followed the beacon, mindless of the logistics. Rey knew she had to get to them fast before Poe or Rose or any of those siding with them finds a way to warn Finn about her arrival.

But when she got there, they already knew. In fact, she believes they were expecting it. Finn was joined by Jannah and a handful of troopers, standing in a protective line against the wall of blazing blue light. The Gate. 

The last time she had seen Finn, he held the same look Poe had given her earlier. Like a wounded animal, betrayed and heartbroken. Now it was a cool facade, similar to the one she wore when she disembarked. But the mask would crack soon, she knew. The Gate was right there. May the Force help whoever stands in her way. 

“I don’t want to do this, Finn,” she says outright. “Please just let me through.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” he replies. “This has to stop, Rey.”

“It will,” and it was like a vow. “Just let me through,” she pleaded forcefully. 

“Can I trust you on that?” Finn asks sincerely.  _ Desperately.  _ “Will you answer for the crimes you’ve committed?” 

This unsettled Rey. “You will punish me for breaking laws you haven’t made then.” It was absurd how much they trusted a system that failed in the first place, a failure so severe it birthed bloodshed and oppression. “And what about the crimes against those who couldn’t fight back? The crimes committed against  _ your _ people? Or have you forgotten already?”

“Rey—”

“I only came to provide the justice you were all so willing to throw away.”

“Things had to be done the right way!”

“And what way is that?” She breathed out, the mask slipping now. “One that would take us years to complete? One that could lead to another war because the people responsible for the last one have yet to pay for it!” 

Finn only shook his head at her. 

“I will not be idle,” she mutters. “For as long as I breathe, there shall never be another empire except the one I would build.” The coldness in her stare was infinite. She meant every word. 

That only made Finn stand more resolute against her. “Then you’ve given me no choice.”

Rey considered it for a moment, but even then she knew it would always come to this. “Good.” She breathes out shakily, unsheathing her saberstaff. “Because I made mine a long time ago.”

For a tiny fracture of a second, she hoped that once she leapt towards them, Finn would produce his own lightsaber. She had heard of their training in the Jedi temple, Finn and a handful of other Force-sensitive kids. And she wasn’t disappointed. 

When her red saberstaff clashed with a blue one, she almost breathed a sigh of relief. And then she almost choked with that breath, stumbling backwards for a couple of feet and dropping her weapon to the ground, because standing between her and Finn was none other than Ben Solo himself. 

“I have to say,” he says, looking at her in a slight disbelief. “I was hoping for a warmer welcome than that.”

“Ben?” 

And when he smiled, there was no doubt about it. This was real. It was him. 

Ben Solo.

“In the flesh.”

In a flash, Rey was up on her feet. Ben drops the saber haphazardly and catches her as she leaps into his arms. 

“I thought I’d never see you again.” 

“Me too,” he says, breathing her in. “Me, too.”

A tear slips from the corner of her eye as she buries her face into the crook of his neck. His warmth keeps her grounded as her body shivers from the sight of him alive. It was too good to be true and yet it is. 

Ben sets her back on her feet, their arms still linked to one another. He glances at Finn briefly before looking back at her with a silent question. 

Rey sighs heavily in response. 

“Did you really break the law—” Ben started to ask.

Finn was more than happy to correct him. “Several.”

“— _ several _ laws...for…?” He trails off, unable to finish.

“Well, don’t sound so touched,” Finn grumbles. “You can at least pretend not to be flattered by all of  _ this _ . Rey did a lot of damage, you know.”

“I did not!” She whines, a bit too childlike in that manner. 

“You broke into our facility, took  _ our _ prisoners, and I don’t even know what you’ve done with them!” 

Rey bites down at her lip and stares at the ground, heat blooming in her cheeks. “No one’s going to miss them anyway.”

Finn scoffs but a hint of a smile was forming on his lips now as well. “That’s true, but still.” 

“Are you all just going to stand around here as if she just wasn’t about to cut you down five seconds ago?” Jannah reprimands them. “We came here for a reason and I’m starting to think it’s for the wrong one.”

To this the three of them sighs, Finn more heavily than either of them. Ben intertwined his fingers with hers and the act alone made her feel a thousand times stronger. No matter what comes their way, she was ready. He had come back for her. And if she was willing to burn the universe to get him here, Rey reckoned that nothing was impossible after this.

“For crimes committed against the New Republic during the last galactic war, we are formally putting you, Ben Solo formerly known as the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, under arrest and to be tried in front of the Reformed Republic court.”

It took her by surprise when it shouldn’t have. Of course they would bring him back to face the justice he had unintentionally evaded when he  _ died _ . Rey brings up this point now.

“He died for the cause!” And it was automatic, the way she reaches for her saberstaff.

But Ben intercepts her and catches it before she could. 

“He died for  _ you _ ,” Jannah says with a raised brow. “And look how you turned out. I say that cause was lost the moment you stepped out of bound.”

Rey stares at her menacingly. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying this,” Ben whispers to her. “But I rather proceed quietly. I don’t really have the strength in me to fight our way out of this, and to be honest...I don’t want to. We both knew this was coming, Rey.” 

She holds onto him tighter and nods. And when she faced two of the highest ranking officers of this reformed republic, she only held her head higher. “What are my charges then?”

Rey never thought she’d be walking back to the capital with her hands tied.

Then again, she never thought she’d actually be walking in with Ben Solo beside her. It was a dream; being with him again, not imprisonment. But it had been far too long a journey to get here and she would take what she can get. As she glances up towards his face, she smiles. He returns it easily. Her heart feels heavy against her chest, like it’s been absent for quite some time and is now only returning home.

Rey leans in and tells him quietly, “It’s not too late.”

“Rey.” And even as he smiles, she knows that there was a sadness to it.

She was relentless however. She wanted to be sure that this was a choice he was making for his own benefit, not her. “My Knights are around. Just say the word and we’ll be out of here.”

He breaks into a grin, and there was a light chuckle to his voice. “I would very much like to spend time with you without being surrounded by guards—and with our hands free—”

“Mm.”

“—but we have to do this.”

Rey sighs, disappointed.

“Leia would’ve wanted us to.”

That made her more somber towards this display and nods in resignation. No matter how brief, she knew the General. And knowing her was respecting her. There was no other way. 

“Might as well,” she finally agrees. “But I should warn you,” Rey continues, leaning in closer. “I am  _ not _ letting you out of my sight.”

“Good.” Ben was unable to disguise the laugh in his voice and clears his throat. “I, uh...I haven’t let you out of my sight. Ever.”

Rey smiles, straightening up. And then his words sink in one by one. “What do you mean?” She asks quietly. “Were you able to watch me from...over there?”

He only purses his lips in reply, keeping his mouth shut. But he looks smug. Proud.

“Ben!”

“What?” He says, feigning innocence. “Nothing else interests me,” he admits, not even slightly embarrassed.

She, on the other hand, was mortified. 

“I just wish I could’ve offered you a better future than this,” Ben confesses suddenly. He was looking anywhere but her, and when he finally did, Rey could see the regret in his eyes. 

“I’d rather have any future with you than without,” she replies. “If this doesn’t prove it,” she says, referring to their cuffs, laughing. “I don’t know what else will.”

There was bound to be comfort in that. So when they faced over thousands of species against them, they relished the fact that they were together in it. Just how they faced the Emperor.

_ Stand together. Die together. _

Hopefully, this time, death was not involved. When the trial was over, and they were both sentenced to exile, it almost seemed like a blessing. They could be exiled together, they thought. 

But then the court deemed that Ben would serve a longer sentence than Rey and that didn’t sit well with her at all. And when they declared that they’ll be in separate systems for the remainder of their punishment, she was ready to snap. 

The Dome was filled to the brim with Senators and other high-ranking officials. It also included bystanders, civilians who wanted to get a glimpse of the two powerful figures of the last war. But keeping the Dome open will prove to be a mistake. Rey didn’t exactly plan for this, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t thought about it. Part of the reason why she had evaded capture was because she was always one step ahead. The Force had been more than helpful, but it was understanding of how people can be so disappointing was what aided her in her quest. And she will not fail now. 

Her calm composure but sly gazes to her surroundings was enough to warn Ben of her schemes. 

“Rey, no.” He seemed genuinely concerned, so unlike the man she first met in the forest. But there was no surprise in his voice. This only egged her on. 

Her lips were tugged in the corner. “Relax.”

“Rey,” he tries again, cautious and still very much worried. “Don’t.”

She sighs but shows no sign of relenting. “I didn’t become the new Supreme Leader for nothing, Ben.” And when she looked at him, the warmth in his eyes softened her a little, enough to be reassuring. “Everything’s going to be alright now.”

And just like that half of the Dome unveiled weapons, pointed at the other half in one swift move. There was barely any time for a commotion. Everything just stood still, completely at her mercy. 

“Welcome to our empire, Ben Solo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a while to finish this but I'm happy I finally did! Happy Valentine's Day!


	5. The Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be with me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you wanna start a war  
> In the age of icons  
> So you wanna be immortal  
> With a loaded gun
> 
> \- Start A War, Klergy feat. Valerie Broussard

“Impressed?”

Poe glared at her from the lower panel as she stepped off the platform, her cuffs clattering unceremoniously to the floor. A look of surprise flashes across his face as he notices a figure behind Rey. 

“Rose?” 

The small woman returns his gaze briefly and offers him a sad smile. “You knew it wasn’t right, keeping them apart.”

“What did you do?” Poe yells at Rey accusingly.

“Please,” the Supreme Leader scoffs. “Rose had been nothing more than a friend. I’m not holding anything against her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Rey watches carefully as Poe digests this information. There was supposed to be a trap in BB-8; a map that would lead her to an island, similar to where Luke hid, where they could keep her indefinitely. If Rose hadn’t wiped it from its memory drive, she wouldn’t use the beacon. And she wouldn’t have been able to get to Ben on time.

“Traitor,” Poe spats at Rose. 

Rey knew it would hurt Rose, but to her surprise, the judgement was taken in stride. “Save what you love,” she murmurs loud enough for them to hear. She looks at Rey one more time before disappearing with the other Knights.

Rey turns her attention back to Dameron and jumps in his section, lithe and graceful, and smiles as she comes face to face with him. “You honestly didn’t think it would be that easy now, did you?” She asks. “I always keep my promises, Senator,” she adds, crooning. “I did say that your city will get everything it deserves.”

She turns towards the crowds and grins. 

“And what you need is a new leader.” Rey reaches out for Ben Solo, staring at her from up on the platform while Lyx and Ona, her best mechanic, uncuffs him. “Two new leaders,” she corrects herself proudly.

“So this has been your plan all along,” Poe mutters as he tries to budge against the two other Knights holding him but they were too strong. “Free Ben Solo and  _ take over the capital _ ?”

“No,” she admits quietly. “There was never  _ a plan _ , Poe. Don’t you see?” She turns towards him again and grabs his chin. “I only ever wanted one thing. Just one. And you had to get in the way. Then when you decide to finally give it to me, you take it away again.” Her nails were starting to bite, her eyes darkening as she stared daggers into him. “I wouldn’t have minded exile. I wouldn’t have minded  _ death _ . As long as we’re together again, that would’ve been fine by me. But you just had to get greedy, didn’t you?” Rey pulled at his skin, sinking her nails deeper. “You had to punish me. You had to make me feel like I’m losing him all over again. And that’s where your fault lies, Senator. You keep forgetting why all of this started. And you had the audacity to be ironic about it.”

When she releases him from her grip, his chin is bleeding. 

“Now your entire city will have to suffer,” she deemed. “In fact, let the  _ reformed republic _ suffer!” Rey laughed, her anger overpowering her. “This is how you punish people, Dameron. You make certain that they don’t have the upperhand. You beat them down, over and over, till they remember why they’re in such misery. And trust me,” she says. “I won’t ever let you forget.” 

“Ben, do something!” Finn pleaded from across the panel. “You promised you’d stop her!”

Rey snaps to attention, her head whipping about to find Ben’s intense gaze trained on her. “You did what?” She asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ben shrugs at this. “I had to give them something they want,” he replies easily as he makes his way to her. “How else can I get back to you?”

He’s never lied to her. She knows that. But why did she suddenly feel threatened by his presence, like he was hiding something from her?

“What do  _ you _ want, Ben?”

He reached her quickly, his long legs an advantage with such strides. And when he looked deep into her eyes, she found her answer.

“Just you.”

She pulled away before he could tuck away the loose tendril of hair behind her ear, understanding him all too well. “You want us to run away.”

“I want us to be together,” he said, almost pleadingly. “There’s nothing more to it than that. What do you want, Rey?”

_ You. This. Us.  _ It was simple. And yet it isn’t. 

“I want you to join me,” she replies hurriedly. “I want  _ this _ . I  _ need _ this, all of it. Because I want us to be safe. I want  _ you _ to be safe.” 

“I  _ am _ safe.” Ben was trying hard to convince her and it was showing. “You’ll never lose me again. I’m here. But, Rey…” and he finally catches her in his arms, pulling her close. “We don’t need anything else. We can leave. Disappear.”

She pushes him off. “That is not a solution, Ben, and you know it.”

“Rey.”

“I’m not running away!” There was a hard resolve in that, and desperation too. “Do you want us to hide, tucked away in some lost planet, forever on the run? We’ll never have a normal life! People will always find a way to hunt us down and keep us apart.”

“We won’t let that happen,” he promises but it was meek. Even he doesn’t seem to believe that they could withstand another separation.

“If we claim our place, our  _ power _ , we’ll always be safe. We can finally be free. We can rule side by side and bring a new order to the galaxy.” It was an echo of a long-forgotten life, one that had them on opposite sides of the board. And yet it was the same feeling of hopelessness; being at the brink of something good, only to slowly lose it. “Don’t you see?” Rey stepped closer to him, seeking his thoughts in those dark eyes. 

With his eyes cast down, Ben Solo replies at last. “I do.”

“Do you?” She asks quietly, afraid that this was all part of some ruse. 

But then Ben looks at her, sighing, and nods. “Of course, I do.” And he did. There was no doubt about it. “Is this what you really want?” He asks again. 

Rey holds out her hand. “Be with me?”

Finn shouts something incoherent from the other side. Poe was doing the same. It felt like the world was burning in anticipation for his response. She had waited so long for him. She had searched the universe for a way to bring him back. Now everything stands in the balance. Will all her deeds be worth it? The panic and hysteria within her echoed those that were fearing for their lives. Everyone was at her mercy. Even Ben Solo. 

_ What will happen if he refuses my hand?  _ She wondered. And for a moment, she glimpsed the life she’s been living all this time. 

But then the noise fell away. Ben took her hand and smiled. 

“I’m with you.”

Rey breathes a sigh of relief, slipping her fingers through his, and faces everyone in that Dome. She was triumphant, not only in her quest but in a future worth saving. This was the beginning. This was an end. But most of all,  _ this _ is life. It wasn’t just an existence. It had meaning, drive, purpose. 

They were going to change everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to Khamûl for giving me the idea. I actually didn't think I'd write another chapter, but here we are! I love angry Rey (and I won't be one bit sorry for it). There's just so much emotion there and if you think about it, wouldn't you be filled with rage if your OTHER HALF is ripped away from you when you just found them? It could be just me. But anyway! I hope that if you're reading this, you've enjoyed this little read. Here's to celebrating more Reylo creations out there! I'm glad I've had a small contirbution to our community.


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